Seminole may halt building after school tax-hike failure

A sign at the entrance to Lake Howell High School outlines how… (RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA…)

November 4, 2010|By Dave Weber, Orlando Sentinel

SANFORD — The fallout from Seminole County's failed half-cent sales tax increase for school construction Tuesday will be immediate and ongoing, school leaders said.

"My opinion is that we stop all projects now while we evaluate what money we will have," School Board Chairman Sandy Robinson said after voters rejected the tax that would have provided more money for school repairs.

Robinson said a proposed $17 million makeover of Jackson Heights Middle School in Oviedo that had been set to begin in a few months might be the first casualty. A slew of other projects that were planned also must be reconsidered, she said.

In a close ballot count, 51 percent of Seminole voters rejected the half-cent sales tax in Tuesday's referendum. The tax had been projected to raise about $260 million over 10 years for remodeling, additions and needed school repairs such as roofs and air-conditioning systems. Classroom technology upgrades were planned, too.

Although the school tax failed in Seminole, Volusia's proposal won overwhelming support and Orange's passed by a healthy margin.

"We are still between a rock and a hard place, but the tax money will help us," said Candace Lankford, a Volusia County School Board member.

Volusia asked voters for a quarter-mill increase in property taxes for two years and sold it by saying the $14 million to be raised would pay for 150 teachers. A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Voters responded with 61 percent in favor.

In Orange about 55 percent of voters went for a 1-mill property tax increase for four years that will raise about $85 million a year.

"This will help us maintain the quality of teachers and the programs we have," said Orange School Board member Daryl Flynn. Orange was facing a $95 million deficit next year when federal subsidies that have covered shortfalls the past couple of years run out.

Seminole school district officials are perplexed that their school-tax proposal failed while measures passed in Volusia and Orange.

Officials tie the loss to what they call a misunderstanding about the proposed sales-tax rate. They had pointed out that the overall rate would drop to 6 1/2 cents when the current penny shared by schools, cities and the county expires next year.

But opponents said that approach was misleading because without the half-cent, the sales tax now will be 6 percent starting in 2012. They objected to a tax increase in tough economic times.

"They could use some school repairs, but I think they can tighten their budget and pay for it otherwise," said Walter Osborne, a retired college professor from Oviedo who was among those working to defeat the sales tax.

"We are going to have to look at our whole capital-improvement plan and see what is our absolute priority," Vogel said.

School-construction money for Seminole has dwindled in recent years as the state almost eliminated any contribution, and other sources, such as school-impact fees charged on new-home construction, evaporated with the housing glut.

Although the district takes in about $45 million a year for construction and repairs, nearly half is committed to repaying old construction debts.

The budget has become so tight this year that the district has set aside only $100,000 for roof repairs while needs run into the millions.